Patients in hospitals and nursing homes and bedridden persons in homes, are usually not able to bathe themselves, particularly without assistance. Many patients have physical disabilities which prevent them from getting out of a bed and into a bath tub without assistance from a care provider. While wiping a patient with a damp or steamed towel may be employed in lieu of a bath, a bath in a tub is preferred in order to remove filth, particularly body waste. It is desirable, however, to move a bedridden patient as little as possible for a bath because pain is often incurred by a patient during movement. It is also desirable that care providers not be required to lift a patient from a bed to a tub. Labor laws and regulations increasingly restrict employed nurses, nurses aids and the like from lifting patients so as to prevent back and muscle injuries.
Heretofore, bath tubs have been especially designed for patients in hospitals and nursing homes, or bedridden persons in homes. However, most of such prior tubs have required substantial movement of a patient in order for such patient to move from a bed into and out of tubs. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,207,629 dated Jun. 17, 1980 discloses tub equipment for bedridden patients where a patient is required to stand to enter via an end of a tub. After a bath, a patient must stand again to return to bed. A patient is not moved sidewise, but instead, is moved into and out of a tub from its end. Movements of a patient to a standing position increase the possibility of a patient slipping or falling when getting into a tub and when exiting a tub. Such movements may require substantial lifting efforts on the part of a care provider.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,136 dated Oct. 8, 1991, shows a bed having an integral bath tub slidably mounted from a bed. A vertically movable mat is provided for lowering a patient into a bath tub positioned below the bed and for raising such patient from the bath tub. The '136 tub does not overlap a bed and does not move vertically with a bed. A mat on which a patient is supported is moved by mechanical power means between tub and bed. A mechanism of the '136 patent for moving a patient between bed and bath tub is relatively complex.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,534,748 dated Oct. 20, 1970 shows one embodiment, particularly in FIG. 8, in which a bath tub is adapted to have one side extend beneath a supporting member of an adjacent carriage. A stretcher is provided on the carriage for the transfer of a patient between carriage and tub. The tub is tilted by power means on the tub structure and is not supported or tilted by the carriage. The stretcher may be lifted by the tub; the carriage may then be withdrawn. Thus, the tub is used for raising and lowering a stretcher with a patient thereon for bathing.